Contrasting Optical Cable (OCC) and Its Peers

Optical Cable (NASDAQ:OCC) is one of 110 public companies in the “Communications Equipment” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Optical Cable to related companies based on the strength of its risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Optical Cable and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Optical Cable	$73.04 million	-$1.46 million	41.45
Optical Cable Competitors	$5.64 billion	$292.12 million	-2.88

Optical Cable’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Optical Cable. Optical Cable is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Risk and Volatility

Optical Cable has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Optical Cable’s peers have a beta of 1.17, meaning that their average stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Optical Cable and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Optical Cable	0	2	0	0	2.00
Optical Cable Competitors	1072	4021	7068	378	2.54

As a group, “Communications Equipment” companies have a potential upside of 46.50%. Given Optical Cable’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Optical Cable has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

13.6% of Optical Cable shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 44.4% of shares of all “Communications Equipment” companies are held by institutional investors. 22.4% of Optical Cable shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 18.4% of shares of all “Communications Equipment” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Optical Cable and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Optical Cable	3.10%	15.88%	6.17%
Optical Cable Competitors	0.13%	-5.18%	2.94%

Summary

Optical Cable peers beat Optical Cable on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

About Optical Cable

Optical Cable Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of fiber optic and copper data communications cabling and connectivity solutions primarily for the enterprise market in the United States and internationally. The company provides fiber optic and hybrid cables for high bandwidth transmission of data, video, and voice communications; and copper datacom cables, including unshielded and shielded twisted pair constructions. Its fiber optic connectivity products include fiber optic wall mounts, cabinet mount and rack mount enclosures, pre-terminated fiber optic enclosures, fiber optic connectors, splice trays, fiber optic jumpers, plug and play cassette modules, pre-terminated fiber optic cable assemblies, adapters, and accessories; and copper connectivity products comprising category compliant patch panels, jacks, plugs, patch cords, faceplates, surface mounted boxes, distribution and multi-media boxes, copper rack mount and wall mount enclosures, cable assemblies, cable organizers, and other wiring products for equipment rooms, telecommunications closets, data centers, and workstation applications. In addition, the company offers network, data storage, and telecommunications management systems, such as data cabinets, wall mount enclosures, horizontal and vertical cable management systems, and open frame relay racks; and datacom wiring products, including various enclosures, and modules and modular outlets for single dwelling and multiple dwelling residential uses. Further, it provides specialty fiber optic connectors and connectivity components, copper datacom connectors, and related systems and solutions for military, other harsh environment, and special applications, as well as cylindrical connector products. The company sells its products to distributors, original equipment manufacturers, value-added resellers, and end-users. Optical Cable Corporation was incorporated in 1983 and is headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia.